McDonnell Douglas DC-10 Twin
| McDonnell Douglas DC-10 Twin | |
|---|---|
| Role | Wide-body trijet airliner |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | McDonnell Douglas |
| Status | Never built |
The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 Twin was a proposed version of the DC-10, a wide-body trijet airliner, that would have only two engines instead of three. It was designed to be lighter, simpler, and more fuel-efficient than the original DC-10, and to compete with the Airbus A300, the first twin-aisle twinjet. However, the DC-10 Twin never entered production, as there was not enough demand from airlines.[1][2]
Design
Beginning in 1966, two-engine designs were studied for the DC-10 before the design settled on the three-engine configuration. Later on, a big twin based on the DC-10 cross-section was proposed to Airbus as a 50/50 venture but rejected, and in 1971, a shortened DC-10 version with two engines was proposed as a competitor to the Airbus A300.[1][2][3][4]
McDonnell Douglas even held a major presentation of the proposed DC-10 Twin at Long Beach, and several European airlines were willing to place orders. On July 30, 1973 however, the company's board decided not to give the proposed twin the go-ahead, as no US airline had ordered it. Later still, further DC-10 Twin proposals were made, either as a collaboration with a European manufacturer or as a solely McDonnell Douglas product, but none of them proceeded beyond design studies.[1][2][4]
The design when being developed had cost a total of $250,000,000 ($1,257,001,647 in 2024).[5]
Proposal
The proposal was based on a specification from American Airlines (AA) in 1966, who wanted a wide-body aircraft smaller than the Boeing 747 yet capable of flying similar long-range routes from airports with shorter runways.
References
- ^ a b c "DC-10 Twin briefing" (PDF). Flight International. June 7, 1973. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 11, 2018.
- ^ a b c Thomas, Geoffrey (2023-02-08). "How McDonnell Douglas missed the Big Twin and disappeared". Airline Ratings. Archived from the original on April 1, 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
- ^ Air Pictorial - Volume 35. Air League of the British Empire. 1973. p. 166.
- ^ a b Thomas, Geoffrey (2023-02-08). "How McDonnell Douglas missed the Big Twin and disappeared". Airline Ratings. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
- ^ Airways: A Global Review of Commercial Flight · Volume 11. Airways International, Incorporated. 2004. p. 15. ASIN B00006K2MD.
Further reading
- United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science and Astronautics (1973). 30th International Paris Airshow, Le Bourget Field, Paris, France: A Report. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 14.